


To The One I Love

by Silent_So_Long



Series: otpprompts [25]
Category: Rammstein
Genre: M/M, Sexual Content, Tumblr Prompt, Tumblr: otpprompts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-08
Updated: 2015-04-08
Packaged: 2018-03-18 23:22:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3587763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silent_So_Long/pseuds/Silent_So_Long
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Richard, Paul and a birthday gift</p>
            </blockquote>





	To The One I Love

**Author's Note:**

> This is me misappropriating R.E.M. lyrics for the use of the title. (‘The One I Love’ is not actually a romantic song; the lyrics focus more upon using someone ....)  
> This fic was inspired by the following prompt left upon tumblr’s otpprompts: Imagine Person A of your OTP buys Person B a teddy bear for Valentine’s Day/B’s birthday as a way to show their love for Person B. Person B takes the gift but claims that teddy bears are a bit too childish for them. Person A later finds Person B asleep on a couch/bed/whatever you want with the teddy bear in their arms. What happens next is up to you.

Paul struggled his way into the gift shop with an air of defeat weighing heavily upon his shoulders; the day was too hot, the shops too crowded and his search for a birthday present for Richard was not going well at all. He’d been scouring the shops for at least an hour and had yet to come up with anything better than a new set of strings for one of Richard’s guitars, and a new guitar case. Whilst there was nothing intrinsically wrong with those presents, as both were highly functional and something that Richard would appreciate, Paul wanted to buy the other man something special and far more meaningful, something which told of his great love for the other man. As yet he’d seen nothing that struck him as being particularly suitable; chocolates were too obvious and corny, and flowers were just not Richard's thing. 

Paul was beginning to feel more than a little irritable, and his growing agitation was heightened by the crowds that seemed to press in on him on all sides, and the close, humid heat of the day that promised thunderstorms by eventide. Paul felt sticky, sweaty and uncomfortable, his skin in need of a good dousing beneath the coldest shower imaginable as soon as he reached the apartment once more. 

He mooched around the shop, not very hopeful of finding anything suitable for Richard at all. And then his eyes fell upon something that he hadn’t yet accounted for, and he stopped, knowing that while the choice might be unexpected, it still was the best thing he’d yet seen all day. 

He plucked the intended gift from the shelf and tucked it carefully beneath his arm, a smile now replacing his formerly harassed scowl, before he headed further into the shop, to peruse and browse a little further. 

:::

“It’s a teddy bear,” Richard said, flatly when he saw the gift that Paul had chosen for him, later that evening. 

Paul had come home earlier than Richard and had patiently waited for the other man, spread-eagled lazily upon the couch, reading. He’d still been there when Richard had finally returned and whilst the other man had been dutifully pleased with his more functional, more guitar related, gifts, Paul’s choice of teddy bear had not been met with the reaction he‘d expected. 

“It says “I love you” on his jumper, Reesh,” Paul said, and he tried not to wince at the hurt he could hear in his own voice. 

His efforts were unsuccessful; he still winced, which Richard thankfully missed, attention still resting upon the soft and fluffy grey teddy bear clutched between his hands. The jumper that the bear wore was, to Paul’s eyes, a tasteful shade of red, and the words embroidered upon the woolen fabric were perfect, or so Paul had initially thought. Richard’s expression, however, was unreadable, and closed-off; Paul wondered if he could even see disappointment in the other man’s eyes. 

“Yeah, I can see that, Paulchen,” Richard said, in response to Paul’s earlier observation and he raised his gaze, but his eyes were now shuttered, as unreadable as the rest of his expression.

Paul didn’t know how to take Richard’s reaction at all, but he knew that he was more than a little disappointed, and even saddened, by it. Even though he’d meant well, and had thought it a cute way of showing Richard how much he really did love him, Paul had started to regret his decision to buy the bear. 

“Don’t you think it a little ... y’know ... young, Paul?” Richard asked, a little hesitantly. “Like it’s a gift for someone younger?” 

Paul knew he couldn’t have felt worse if Richard had reached out and punched him in the face. 

“So, it’s childish,” Paul said, flatly and Richard visibly winced at his tone.

“I didn’t say that, Paul,” Richard said, but there was hesitation in his tone as though he’d at least thought that. 

“But you implied it,” Paul pointed out, still in that same dead tone of voice. “Fine. I’ll take it back. Thankfully, I still have the receipt.” 

He reached for the soft bear with one defeated hand and every movement felt heavy and sad. It felt to Paul as though through sheer dint of taking the bear back to the shop, he also was denying his feelings for Richard and that hurt him more than Richard’s reaction. 

A sudden, desperate look filtered into Richard’s gaze when he saw that Paul intended to take the bear from him and he did not relinquish his hold upon the squidgy toy he held. That expression alone made Paul hesitate, hand hovering in mid-air between them; the desperate look faded from Richard’s eyes and was replaced by a closed, guarded frown instead. 

“No, I didn’t mean for you to take it back, Paul. I’ll keep it,” Richard said. 

Paul nodded, but didn’t say anything; his hurt backed up in his throat and prevented him from speaking, anyway. He tried to maintain something of his usual sunny attitude for the rest of the evening, yet some of his hurt still filtered through occasionally; Richard even paused to ask him if he was okay on a couple of occasions. Paul merely laughed it off as best as he could and certainly did not reveal the reason behind why he was so upset. 

The meal they shared was nice, however; Paul had ordered a Chinese take-way for them both, and they ate straight out of the cartons whilst settled comfortably in front of the TV. They tackled the food with chopsticks at first, until the meal proved too messy, and their hands too fumbling and inept to deal with the unfamiliar mode of eating, at which point they changed to forks. Paul was glad that the movie they‘d chosen to watch was at least a funny one; it helped to take his mind from the earlier upset through constant shared laughter with Richard. Richard helped with clearing up the discarded cartons once the film had finished, hand brushing occasionally against Paul’s own; they exchanged silent, secret smiles every time and Richard stole more than a few kisses from Paul, each of which Paul returned, and some of the hurt had long since been forgotten by the time that he was getting ready for bed. 

Still, however, as he was standing alone in the bathroom, staring at his own tired reflection, he had a chance to think back on the day he’d spent with Richard. For some reason, he felt as though he’d failed somehow; even though there was a serious message behind his choice of gifts, it felt as though he’d given offence through offering Richard the bear, and had thus performed the greatest faux pas. Despite all that Richard had said to the contrary earlier, he resolved to take the bear back to the store in the morning, citing it as an unwanted gift. In that, it felt as though he’d be taking part of his heart back with it. 

He scrubbed one hand over his face, in an attempt to wipe some of the weariness away yet it didn’t quite work. He sighed, and the exhalation fanned moisture across the bathroom mirror. Paul absent-mindedly scrubbed the moisture away, leaving smears behind against the glass. He sighed again and turned away, before he slipped out of the bathroom once more, to pad into the bedroom he shared with Richard.

Richard, surprisingly, was already asleep, breaths even and deep in the dimness of the room. Paul clicked the door shut quietly behind him and crept across the remaining distance between the door and the bed, careful not to disturb the sleeping man already comfortably settled beneath the sheets. Paul lifted the covers and paused when he saw what that one motion had revealed; cuddled in Richard's arms was the teddy bear that Paul had handed him earlier in the day. Paul had to smile at that, a sudden, inexplicable joyous warmth spreading through his body at the sight; even though Richard had all but scoffed at the gift earlier, it seemed as though it had resonated with him a little more than he’d wanted to earlier admit. One of Richard’s hands was snarled around the teddy bear’s head, fingers clutched deep in the soft nap of it, as though the other man was desperately frightened of letting it go. 

“Oh, Reesh, you stupid fool,” Paul muttered, despite himself. 

He shook his head over Richard’s eternal obstinacy over such things; he didn’t know why Richard had thought it such an affront to his masculinity to be actually given a teddy bear. Paul, in his place, would have been thrilled if Richard had done the same for him and wouldn't even have questioned it. 

The sound of Paul’s voice, though not loud in and of itself, made Richard stir; his eyes fluttered open and sought Paul out in the darkness. A slight, sleepy smile crossed Richard’s face when he saw Paul, before his eyes closed again, and his breathing returned to its deep and even state. He was asleep once more, yet he hadn‘t yet relinquished his hold upon the bear; if anything, Richard seemed to be holding it all the tighter. 

Paul settled beneath the covers once more and settled against Richard, one arm sliding over the other man’s body and effectively trapping the bear between them. He could feel the soft nap of it tickling against his chest and the fact that it was there, and that Richard had accepted the gift after all, was of some comfort to him. 

:::

Paul awoke the following morning to find that Richard was already awake, although not yet up and out of bed. Richard was sitting upright, back supported by his pillows, yet he had not yet relinquished his hold upon the teddy bear. Instead, the soft toy was perched in Richard’s lap, and the other man was tracing his fingers across the words embroidered across the bear’s fluffy, woolen jumper.

“Morning,’ Paul yawned into the ticking, humid silence. 

Richard startled a little, and he looked almost embarrassed by being found holding the teddy. Paul was gratified to note that he didn’t set it aside, or worse, throw it across the room in continued embarrassment. 

“I think I owe you an apology, Paulchen,” Richard offered, by way of a greeting. 

“Hmmm? Why?” Paul asked, even though he had some idea as to why. 

“I was an arse-hole to you yesterday,” Richard said, and Paul was glad to note that the other man had the grace to look embarrassed. “Don’t deny it.”

“Well, you were, just a little bit,” Paul said, as he struggled into a sitting position beside Richard. “I only meant the gift as a way to say I love you.” 

“I know you were, and I'm really sorry,” Richard said. “The truth is, I was embarrassed. I didn’t know what to say, so I acted like a dick to you.”

“A mere ‘thank you, Paul,’ and an ‘I love you, Paul,’ would have been preferable,” Paul said, with a smile. 

“I know,” Richard said, and he did look genuinely guilty for what had happened. “It’s just ... I actually love the bear, Paulchen. I don’t think it’s childish at all. I don‘t know why I implied that, really.”

He leant close enough to kiss Paul, yet his mouth hovered a couple of inches in front of Paul‘s, temptingly close yet giving Paul the option to pull away and reject him if he so wished. Paul stared at him at close range, and shared breath with him for a few moments; he sighed and knew he just didn’t have the heart to reject him. He never could, not even during the times when Richard might even have deserved it. 

“You are a stupid idiot sometimes, Reesh, but I do love you,” he murmured against Richard's lips.

Richard smiled into the kiss when it came, and Paul returned that smile, mouths working together in a warm seam; Paul raised his hand and rested it against the nape of Richard’s neck. He became lost to the kiss, lost to the man he was kissing, lost again when Richard eased him back against the pillows behind him. The sheets tangled around them but neither man cared; instead, they laid together, kissing, and caressing, breathing deepening as Richard stroked Paul to full hardness. 

Richard had long since laid the teddy bear to one side before he retrieved the lube from the bathroom; Paul no longer paid it any attention as Richard prepared him, body and mind too focussed upon the man he loved. And when they finally joined, it came with a cry and a sigh, hands and mouths joining as they made love in the wash of early morning light. Richard’s name was a stuttered curse upon Paul’s lips when he came and he heard Richard moaning his name upon release a few moments later. They rode out the last of their orgasms before finally, gently, easing away from one another; Richard was the first to move, to close the distance between them again and to wrap his arms around Paul’s body. Paul felt safe in Richard’s arms, and he stared at the other man, at the way Richard looked relaxed and happy in the soft light of morning.

Richard moved only once, to retrieve the teddy bear from where it had lain previously abandoned and a slight grin softened Richard’s face again as he looked upon it. 

“I love it,” he said, unprompted. “But not as much as I love you.” 

Paul huffed out a laugh at that, but he said nothing; instead, he traced fingers against Richard’s chest and didn’t object when Richard pulled him into a wet and open-mouthed kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the teddy that Paul gives Richard. 
> 
> [](http://s1368.photobucket.com/user/paulchen2/media/51AnGH6t96L._SY300__zpswg4wzdf8.jpg.html)


End file.
